


baubles of stolen kisses

by tonepoem



Category: Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee
Genre: M/M, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 05:26:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16758826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonepoem/pseuds/tonepoem
Summary: At the Citadel of Eyes, Jedao finds a new lover.  Post Revenant Gun."I don't need a courtesan.""Medical says otherwise," Mikodez said.  Still grinning, but there was a steely glint in his eyes.  "If you were mentally healthy, which you are not--close your mouth, you can't argue with me until I'm done speaking--you would be seeking out company on your own.  Instead, you hardly say a word to your guards and you hide in your room all day.  Which is not healthy behavior for anyone, let alone a galloping extrovert."





	baubles of stolen kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cher/gifts).



It wasn't until his sixth week at the Citadel of Eyes that Jedao finally caved in.

He met Hexarch Mikodez for tea and cookies, because it wasn't like Jedao was in any position to say no. They sat across from each other on chairs with red velvet cushions. Mikodez was already chomping on some of the stained-glass cookies that were on offer in beautiful gilded platters. Jedao was resigned to being bullied into eating something, anything, from the selection of cookies and candies, and had already determined that he was going to go for one of the smaller cookies, even if the nutty topping worried him.

"You thought I was kidding when I told you you'd have to see a courtesan, didn't you?" Mikodez said.

 _Why did he have to open with_ that _question?_ Jedao thought resentfully. "I know better than to take a fox at face value, Shuos-zho."

Mikodez crunched into a candy pane--this one bright red, of course. After swallowing, he grinned broadly at Jedao. "That's a shame, because I'm quite serious. You can have Medical select one for you, based on your profile, or you can pick one for yourself. Well, schedule permitting. Some of them are quite in demand."

"I don't need a courtesan."

"Medical says otherwise," Mikodez said. Still grinning, but there was a steely glint in his eyes. "If you were mentally healthy, which you are not--close your mouth, you can't argue with me until I'm done speaking--you would be seeking out company on your own. Instead, you hardly say a word to your guards and you hide in your room all day. Which is not healthy behavior for anyone, let alone a galloping extrovert."

"Just because General Shuos Jedao was a 'galloping extrovert,'" Jedao retorted, "doesn't mean that _I_ am. Maybe all I want is to be left alone in my apartment reading treatises and doing push-ups." He was going out of his mind with boredom, to the point where he was considering braving the grid's selection of pornography, but he sure as hell wasn't going to admit that to Mikodez of all people.

"Nonsense. You need to eat something, by the way, because Zehun will nag me if I reveal that _I_ ate all the cookies."

Jedao respected the hierarchy as he understood it: Zehun first, Mikodez second, a staggering number of Shuos staff next, and himself at the bottom. He grudgingly reached for one of the cookies with the nutty topping and popped it in his mouth. It didn't _taste good_ to him, but he hadn't expected it to, and by now he was used to choking food down whenever people required him to.

After he'd finished the cookie, Jedao asked, "What will you do to me if I don't comply?"

"I'll personally assign you a courtesan," Mikodez said, mildly enough. But he followed that up with, "I took Introduction to Seduction with everyone else back in Academy, you know."

The thought of having to "entertain" his hexarch was so alarming that Jedao resolved then and there to make an appointment as soon as he got out of this damned meeting.

*

As it turned out, choosing a courtesan was even harder than navigating the grid's pornography menu. Jedao's initial attempt to use the random generator to select one brought up a stylishly dressed woman who...had the exact same hairstyle as Cheris. _That_ was not going to work. He hastily dismissed her from the menu and started trying to figure out selection criteria in earnest.

The grid offered men, women, alts, and other categories, some of which confused him. Were there really bird-winged people? Were the wings _functional_? He supposed he could book one and ask, but that seemed rude. Or possibly terrifying. At least, if aerial infantry was a possibility, surely someone in the Kel would have told him--he shut down that line of thought quickly, depressed by the reminder of his past.

He felt the most comfortable with men, or more accurately, the least uncomfortable. The grid had a questionnaire for the indecisive, but a number of the questions stumped him. Especially when it came to preferences for activities. The grid promised to define any unfamiliar terms, complete with tutorial videos. Some of the tutorials came in the form of "solo games." _Is_ that _what they call it these days,_ Jedao thought, amused in spite of himself.

After three hours (really? three _hours?_ ), Jedao narrowed it down to two men. Neither one was tall and pale, like Kujen, or large and dark and muscular, like Dhanneth. At that point, matters were taken out of his hands, as the one whose picture displayed an impressive amount of jasper jewelry was booked solid for the next three months, and only the gray-eyed one with long dark hair was available.

Jedao messaged the courtesan, Shuos Tev, to inquire about scheduling a session, and steeled himself for a long wait. The answer came back in an hour and twelve minutes. Jedao had spent the entire wait pacing, largely because he wasn't sure what he wanted. Would he be more mortified if the courtesan rejected him, or if he didn't?

But the invitation, for two days hence, was courteous enough. It included a map and, for the hapless or naive, a mercifully brief section of tips on what to expect. Jedao was pathetically grateful for the tips, because if 400-year-old General Shuos Jedao had frequented courtesans, _he_ sure had no idea. He resolved to follow all the advice to the letter.

*

Two days later, Jedao had showered (twice), shaved (nicked himself on the chin), dressed in the awful red and gold Shuos uniform for lack of anything better (he didn't trust himself to order appropriate clothes), combed his hair (the bangs were problematic), applied cologne that he'd found in the bathroom (it made him want to sneeze), and memorized the map as well as storing it in his augment. He was left with the nagging feeling that he had done everything in the wrong order but he was so nervous that he just wanted the experience over with.

He stepped out of his apartment. Two guards nodded at him in friendly fashion. If either of them had made a wisecrack about his appearance, or the situation, Jedao would have holed up in the apartment and not emerged again. But they gave no sign that they noticed anything out of the ordinary.

The map was clear enough, and it didn't take too long to walk the corridors to the courtesan's apartment. Agents patrolled the halls, which was familiar enough. It wasn't any secret that he was a prisoner, but at least they didn't escort him to the courtesan; that would have been too humiliating to endure.

This section of the wing featured wallpaper in pleasing abstract designs and calming earth tones, occasionally livened by paintings. Most of the paintings were of foxes playing in the snow, but one or two displayed trees in their fall plumage or fantastic drifts of cherry blossoms. Jedao was tempted to delay his assignation by studying the paintings, but he knew if he stopped moving he would lose his nerve entirely.

The door, when he came to it, was surprisingly ordinary. It had a plaque with Shuos Tev's name in stylized calligraphy, and a single red flower of a type he didn't recognize affixed below it. Jedao didn't dare touch the flower to see if it was real, in case he broke it. Instead, he did the civilized thing and knocked.

"Door's not locked," a light baritone called. "Please come in, Jedao."

Jedao almost bolted at the sound of his name. But he'd never hear the end of it if he did. So he took a deep breath, released it, and opened the door.

The receiving room of Tev's apartment was refreshingly spare. Jedao had expected a surfeit of luxuries, vases and tapestries and rugs and exquisite furniture, just like the treasures that Kujen had surrounded himself with. Tev's walls were an off-white, and a single long table held a tea service. A paper screen painted with a geometrical design obscured the room that lay beyond.

Tev himself sat at the end of a couch large enough for three. "Come sit," he said, matter-of-fact. "I promise I don't bite unless you want me too."

Jedao was desperately trying not to stare, although staring must be something that courtesans got used to. The gray eyes were even more arresting in person, emphasized by smoky eyeliner. Tev's long black hair hung loosely around his shoulders; a streak of it was dyed red. His unbuttoned shirt, hanging open at the chest, showed off his trim physique, and the tightness of his trousers flaunted well-formed legs. His feet were encased in plain slippers.

Jedao flushed but took the other end. "I don't know what I want."

"This is Mikodez's fault, isn't it?"

Jedao had noticed that almost all of the hexarch's staff referred to him by name. He wasn't sure how to answer.

"If you don't want to be here," Tev said, very gently, "you can head back. Or you can have a cup of tea first, and then head back."

The unexpected kindness made Jedao stiffen. _What_ do _I want?_

"But I would like it if you stayed," Tev went on. He reached out and offered his hand, palm-up. "I was intrigued when you asked for me."

"I suppose there's gossip," Jedao said. Carefully, he placed his own hand atop Tev's, although it took all his self-control not to snatch it back immediately. He'd _missed_ this; missed the touch of skn against skin. Even if this was a stranger.

Tev shrugged. "Gossip is as gossip does. I'm curious, of course. I wouldn't be human if I weren't." He smiled, a question in his eyes.

Jedao decided that there was no point avoiding the questions that were eating at him on the grounds that everyone in the Citadel knew about his amnesia anyway. "How do you _do_ this?" he said. "If I asked you to sleep with me--"

"Then I would," Tev said, tranquil.

"But we've never met before," Jedao said. "Doesn't that make it hard?"

Tev's eyes crinkled. "Now I _know_ you're young, despite your face," he said. "People sleep with strangers they've just met all the time, and frequently for very stupid reasons. I'm afraid some things about human nature never change."

Jedao didn't feel in the least aroused yet. He hoped Tev didn't find that insulting. "Could you--if you could show me..." He trailed off, not sure what he wanted to ask.

Tev lifted Jedao's hand, kissed it. His lips were cool and dry. "I can show you any number of things," he said warmly, "but you have to make me a promise."

Jedao tensed. There was always a catch, wasn't there? But he was determined to survive this rather than annoy the hexarch again. "Yes?"

"If I do something you don't like," Tev said, and now his tone turned serious, "you have to tell me right away. I'm good at reading body language--it's part of my training--but I don't read minds. And you're a fox; you're probably a very good liar when you want to be. I apologize if I'm spelling things out in excruciating detail, but I've seen your profile, and I don't want to risk hurting you."

Jedao looked at him incredulously. "Hurting _me_? I come back from the dead when you shoot me. There's nothing you need to worry about."

"That's not the kind of hurt I mean," Tev said. Jedao didn't understand the worry in his eyes. "Here, let's go slow."

Jedao was already baffled. Presumably someone _trained_ as a courtesan knew what he was doing, but wasn't sex about urgency? Even, as he had learned to his sorrow, simulated urgency?

"Did you want tea first?" Tev asked.

"No, I'm fine," Jedao said, still baffled. Unless maybe there was an aphrodisiac in the tea? Of course, even if there was, chances were it wouldn't work on him anyway.

Tev resettled himself so he was sitting right next to Jedao. He reached up and cupped Jedao's face. Jedao stilled, unsure of what to do.

Tev's hand slipped to the side, and he stroked Jedao's hair, almost as though he were petting a cat. Bemused, Jedao permitted this. It went on a for a while, and he started to relax. The sensation wasn't unpleasant.

"I want to kiss you," Tev murmured.

Jedao still wasn't aroused, but he wasn't _un_ aroused, either, and he was beginning to be curious about just what the hell courtesans did with all their time if they took so long to do anything interesting. He closed his eyes and leaned in. Tev's kiss was unhurried and very gentle. But it didn't end there; after a few moments, Tev kissed the side of his face, and worked his way down to Jedao's neck.

"Use your teeth," Jedao said after a while. He was not used to this kind of gentleness. It didn't excite him.

Even then Tev made no abrupt movements--perhaps he'd been warned of Jedao's reflexes--but proceeded gradually. He marked Jedao with his teeth, left indents all the way down to his shoulder. At last Jedao felt himself respond. His hips jerked, and he froze, not sure of what was permitted.

Tev caressed Jedao's hardening shaft through his trousers. For a while he continued this, continuing to kiss Jedao in a meandering path. Jedao could feel Tev's rapid heartbeat like a reassuring clock.

 _I want this,_ Jedao thought, except the whole situation made him miserable. He said, between gasps, "You don't have to do this. I don't want to be a bother."

He didn't want Tev to kick him out. But Tev was doing this because it was his _job_. The situation struck Jedao as inherently unfair.

"Who told you that you were a bother?" Tev said, betraying irritation for the first time.

Jedao flinched.

"I'm not angry at _you_ ," Tev added. "I can turn down lovers, you know. I'm not _obliged_ to see anyone." As if to punctuate this statement, he shoved Jedao down on the couch, not gently, not abruptly either. He leaned in, hips meeting hips, until he was lying atop Jedao. He was just as hard as Jedao was.

Jedao closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the sensation of another man's weight atop him, although Tev was being very considerate about not crushing him. It seemed impossible that someone as handsome as Tev wanted _him_ , inexperienced as he was. Driven by an impulse he couldn't name, Jedao said, "I have scars."

Tev's chuckle caused his chest to vibrate. "You think you're the first Shuos who's gotten injured? I've seen everything, although I try not to get too jaded. It takes the fun out of things."

Tev's fingers moved deftly; moved again. He lifted himself up just long enough to unbutton Jedao's trousers, one-handed. But he didn't draw Jedao's cock out, not yet.

Jedao stilled himself, uncertain. "I'm not very good at this," he said, still in a confessional spirit.

Tev gazed down at him, his expression unreadable. Then he said, very seriously, "You don't have to apologize for yourself. Believe it or not, it's delightful being able to pleasure someone who doesn't want to tangle me up in six different games. It's a hazard with Shuos lovers."

Jedao was startled into a smile.

"There you go," Tev said, delighted. "I was wondering if you ever did that." He reached into Jedao's pants and closed his fingers around Jedao's shaft, eliciting a gasp. "Or that."

When he could speak again, Jedao said, "We've barely met. How would you know whether or not I smile?"

"You looked unhappy when you first came in," Tev said. He circled Jedao's cock head with an expert thumb, teased the slit.

Jedao whimpered, caught himself, stopped. 

"None of that," Tev said chidingly, and redoubled his efforts. It didn't take much; soon Jedao was wriggling beneath him. "You don't look like you're happy often, anyway."

Thinking was difficult. Jedao wanted to warm himself with Tev's solid presence forever, the sensation of those long fingers, the supple weight of him. Jedao said, piecemeal, "I have--everything--I could ever--need."

"That wasn't what I meant," Tev said, but he dropped the subject.

"More," Jedao said when it became clear that Tev was happy to continue this way indefinitely. If he wanted anything beyond this, he was going to have to ask for it. And the taut ache in his loins was overcoming his good sense, anyway.

Thankfully, Tev didn't ask him for specifics, because Jedao had no idea what _more_ meant in any kind of detail. Jedao lay bonelessly on the couch while Tev stripped him. His every motion was graceful in a way that reminded him of Zehun's cats, except perhaps without the predatory intent: present in every moment, efficient, purposeful. In particular, Jedao noticed the way Tev folded everything conscientiously and set it aside, rather than letting everything fall in a mess to the floor, in contrast to the way things had happened in Jedao's admittedly limited sexual experience.

Tev undressed next, with the same neatness. He didn't have scars, which made Jedao self-conscious, and he didn't have tattoos either, to Jedao's relief. His physique was a gymnast's, muscular in a balanced way; his shoulders were broader than Jedao had realized. Jedao caught himself staring at Tev's hard-on, and looked away, which was ridiculous considering what they were doing.

The air was cool, not unpleasantly so, but Jedao was grateful all the same when Tev clambered back atop him. It was both agonizing and delicious when Tev's cock rubbed against his. "You're warm," Jedao said involuntarily, and blushed.

Tev didn't seem to find this awkward. "I should hope so," he said with a grin. "There are two things to be avoided, cold lovers and day-old fish. Or so my gran always liked to say. Anyway, would you like to take me, or vice versa?"

In answer, Jedao twisted, and Tev eased up so Jedao could lie belly-down on the couch. It occurred to him that he wouldn't, in fact, mind plunging into the other man's ass, but not now, not this time, maybe another time when they knew each other better. If there was another time; but he would worry about that later.

Tev caressed his back, the knobs of his spine, trailed his fingers along the curve of Jedao's ass. "You've done this before? Sorry, I'd rather ask than surprise you."

"Yes," Jedao said, his voice husky. "I don't mind." He wasn't used to being _asked_ what he was familiar with, or what he wanted. He thought he could grow to like it, strange as it was. His throbbing cock suggested that considerateness and arousal were not, in fact, mutually incompatible.

Jedao felt Tev's weight shift, resettle. Then a single finger, anointed with warm oil, eased into his hole. Jedao tensed up despite his best intentions. Tev was patient, though, and kept working his way in little by little until Jedao closed his eyes and relaxed. The single finger was followed by a second, then a third. Jedao heard himself moan in anticipation.

"Tell me if I hurt you," Tev said. His voice had gone rough. Jedao realized, with a thrill, that Tev was looking forward this, too; was holding back for Jedao's sake.

"I don't mind a little pain."

"Let me rephrase. If it hurts and you don't like it, tell me. I can always go slower."

In answer, Jedao lifted his ass, begging wordlessly.

Tev was as good as his word. He continued massaging right until the moment that he entered Jedao. It did hurt, because it had been a while, and Tev was well-endowed. But Jedao _liked_ being stretched, and he wanted to be filled, wanted Tev in him balls-deep.

It took the two of them a while to find a rhythm. Jedao wanted Tev to take him hard and fast, and Tev wasn't having any of it. Tev insisted on going slowly and gently, until Jedao was panting with raw need. But Jedao discovered that the teasing was its own kind of enjoyment, and began to get into the spirit of it. It was _rewarding_ when he bucked against Tev and heard the other man's breath hitch, rewarding to elicit any sudden response. Jedao wasn't under any illusions that he was going to surprise a courtesan in the technique arena, but he wanted to be _wanted_. And he wanted to break Tev's self-control, get him to slam in and out, to lose it and _come_.

Sex made Jedao reckless and always had. As Tev was thrusting in, Jedao said, hating himself, "You must have a lot of lovers."

This time Tev plunged all the way in, no warning. Withdrew, and slammed himself in again. Jedao hissed in satisfaction despite the spike of pain. "The lover I'm with," Tev said, between thrusts, "is the one who matters. Right now it's _you_ "--thrust--"you're the one"--thrust--"you're so tight"--thrust--"I want this to be good"--thrust--"for you too--"

Jedao bucked beneath him, and from then on the tempo increased until they were both gasping, breathing to the same rhythm, in out in out and then Tev shouted and Jedao clenched himself around Tev's cock as it pulsed inside him, and Jedao in turn thrust against the couch as his own cock unleashed its load of come.

After they had untangled themselves from each other, Jedao said ruefully, "Your couch..."

Tev laughed. "It's not that hard to clean the upholstery. Don't worry about it." He added, "The tea's cold, but I can brew some more if you like."

"No," Jedao said. He didn't want to move, but he didn't want to overstay his welcome, either.

"Sleep," Tev said, settling back down next to Jedao. "I'll keep watch."

"Don't you--" Jedao couldn't think of any tactful way to ask about Tev's next appointment.

"I'm sure," Tev said. "You can sleep. I'll be here."

"Someday," Jedao said, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Tev's expression, just in case, "someday I'd like to come back."

Tev kissed him, and this time there was nothing controlled about it. "Yes," he said. "Yes. You can come back as often as you like."


End file.
